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Congratulations Camelot.......I am Maimeo to my nine grandchildren

Marie

I read this and thought of you folk on the Garden Fence.

The Watercress QueenLike Page
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As everyone is talking about conkers already I thought I would share my post about conkers and washing from last year.
I have used nothing but conkers for over a year now. As a family we love it.
No smells, no chemicals, no palm oil, no plastic. And best of all free other than my energy.
I have used the four smaller tubs in the picture and have the largest tub left.
I am now collecting conkers to prepare for this year and I hope to be able have enough to help others use conkers.



How to use.

Chop up small and dry the conkers till they are rock hard. I use a dehydrator for this but you can use an oven on a low heat. Once totally dry they will keep until you need them.

Put 40 gm of dried conkers in a 500 ml jar.
Fill jar to top with boiling water and soak for at least 10 mins - 30 minutes is better.
You will get a lovely creamy feeling thick liquid.
Sieve into another jar.

Re-soak the conkers with more hot water. This time for at least an hour.
Sieve the liquid from the conkers again .

re soak for a 3rd time. This time for at least 2 hours or over night if you can.

Each soak the liquid gets "thinner". You can see when your conkers are "spent" they change from a yellow colour to white.

The liquid will have a lovely tree/soapy/woodland smell. This disappears by the 3rd soak.

Use the liquid from the first wash for your dirtiest washing. For very dirty clothes I would use the whole lot, for normal washing half the liquid per wash.

The liquid from the second wash I dont divide and use the whole lot for one wash.

The 3rd lot of liquid I use for towels and things that need a light wash.

I make the liquid as I need it. If you need to keep the liquid pop it in the fridge (label the jar so it doesn't get drunk) and it will keep for around 7 days. Always stir the liquid before use to evenly distribute the "soap".

The used conkers can then be added to your compost.

Please always say thank you to the trees for the gift of conkers and please plant some of the conkers of our biospheres future.

************2018***********

I have now finished preparing my washing "powder" !
8 kilos of conkers - picked up from only three trees and we didn't pick them all up by a long way. We have planted 20 conkers as a thank you to the earth.
This will give me 3 washes a day for a whole year. I have been using them for towels for a whole year already and nothing but conkers for 2 months now. Our clothes don't smell of anything and are super soft :-)

I know we must have a walnut tree somewhere close by as we get walnut saplings from dropped nuts in our garden (we've only just moved here). Will look around for the source of the nuts.


We're putting conkers by our doors to try and deter spiders, do you think this actually has any effect?

Just remember that conkers are poisonous to dogs.